Ramey Jericho Canyon Vineyard Cabernet Blend Reviews

95 Robert M. Parker Jr.’s The Wine Advocate December 2007
The final vintage for this cuvee, the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Jericho Canyon offers a Graves-like personality of scorched earth, chocolate, charcoal, and black currants as well as a sumptuous, full-bodied palate, and a layered, multi-dimensional finish. Drink this remarkable Cabernet Sauvignon over the next two decades.

94-96 Steven Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar May/June 2007
Saturated violet. Flamboyantly aromatic aromas of powerful blueberry and boysenberry fruit accented by cola and floral pastille. Deep, sweet and expansive, with liqueur-like dark berry flavors, a bitter suggestion of cherry pit and silky tannins for support. This became fresher with air, taking a raspberry turn and picking up mineral accents. Finishes energetic and spicy, with an expansive red berry tone and remarkable length.

94 Robert M. Parker Jr.’s The Wine Advocate December 2006
The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Jericho Canyon Vineyard has an inky dark ruby/purple color, a wonderfully sweet nose of espresso roast, fudge, blackberry, and cassis with a hint of incense and smoke. The wine is full-bodied, broadly flavored, opulent, and voluptuous, and that in itself seems to give the wine its current appeal, although I think this is a candidate for at least two decades of cellaring.

93 Steven Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar May/June 2007
Inky purple. Graphite- and tobacco-accented cherry and cassis aromas reminded me of top-end Saint-Julien. Focused, pure red- and blackcurrant flavors are energized by impressive mineral lift. This remarkably concentrated cabernet finishes with firm but harmonious tannins and explosive sweetness.

94 (two puffs) Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine, Dec. 2005, p. 25
10% Merlot; 5% Cabernet Franc. The powerful and seemingly bottomless fruit of this opulent young Cabernet is the stuff of show-stopping success, and the rich oak and complex touches of herbs and earth that are laced through it make a very good thing that much better. A real powerhouse in terms of stuffing and size, the wine successfully balances a scant bit of finishing heat against exceptional extract, and never once does its give in to simple-minded ripeness. There are tannins enough to keep it in fine shape for years to come, and it wants lengthy cellaring to be at its best, but its sense of plushness and its immediate fruit will be tempting even now.

94 Steven Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar May/June 2006
Good full medium ruby. Highly nuanced and wonderfully expressive nose combines blue and black fruits and smoky oak. Fat, dense and smooth in the mouth, with superripe but fresh flavors of cassis, dark chocolate, smoke and cigar box. Finishes with big, rich, mellow tannins and lingering notes of coffee and chocolate. A very satisfying 2003 with considerable early appeal but also very good aging potential.

93-96 Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar May/June 2005
Full ruby. Inviting aromas of blackberry and licorice. Offers an exhilarating sweetness in the mouth, with powerful dark fruit flavors lifted and complicated by mineral and floral elements. Magically fresh and light on its feet for such a large-scaled wine, thanks to perfectly integrated acidity. Finishes extremely long, with noble tannins and superb grip. One of the best barrel samples I tasted in March from this vintage. Offers great potential.

91-93 Robert M. Parker Jr.’s The Wine Advocate 02-28-05, Issue 157
More elegant, downsized, and restrained, the deep, rich, full-bodied 2003 Jericho Canyon Proprietary Red possesses loads of fruit, but a more supple, lighter style than its two predecessors. It should keep for 10-15+ years.

95-98 Robert M. Parker Jr.’s The Wine Advocate 12-23-04
The profound 2002 Jericho Canyon Vineyard Proprietary Red is of Bordeaux first-growth quality. Loaded with blackberry and cedary black currant fruit, huge body, undeniable elegance as well as purity, and a 60-second finish, this wine may merit a three digit score in a few years.

92-95 Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar May/June 2004
Saturated bright ruby. Higher-pitched, more primary aromas of blackberry, blueberry, violet, minerals, bitter chocolate and graphite. Wonderfully sweet and suave in the mouth, with good energy and focus. This, too, is carrying 15+% alcohol, but maintains its balance nicely. The tannins here are powerful but refined. Offers very strong potential. (A retaste of the 2001s showed that the '01 version of this wine was likewise sappier and more mineral-driven than the Diamond Mountain bottling, which showed a thicker texture and a note of smoked meat.)

91 California Grapevine, Vol. 31, No. 1, February-March 2005, p. 1
Medium-dark ruby; very attractive, though initially restrained, spicy, earthy, blackberry and dark currant aroma that developed depth and intensity as it opened with airing in the glass; full body; big rich, plummy, textured, highly extracted, ripe berry and dark currant flavors with a full, rounded mouth feel; full tannin; hint of bitterness on the finish; lingering aftertaste. Needs another five more years of bottle aging. Very highly recommended.
(Group Score 16.4, 2/1/1; My Score: 17 [91/100 points], third place)

91 (two puffs) Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine, Dec. 2004, p. 28
A quick check of the labels shows 14.7% alcohol here, but there is little about this wine that indicates such ripeness. Its main traits are poise, proportion and balance of fruit to the fore of its deftly placed oak. It smacks of ripe cherries, vanilla and a bit of milk chocolate and its sustained, lightly tannin-firmed finish is marked by the same sense of finesse that marks every step of its carefully crafted course.

97 Robert M. Parker Jr.’s The Wine Advocate, 12-23-03, p. 38-39
Even more compelling is the 2001 Jericho Canyon Vineyard Proprietary Red, a blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, and 19% Cabernet Franc from a vineyard near Calistoga. A superb effort, it boasts a saturated purple color along with an extraordinary smoky nose revealing scents of roasted coffee, melted licorice, graphite, and copious amounts of blackberry and cassis liqueur. The palate is full-bodied, with layers of flavor, tremendous purity, high tannin, and impeccable richness. For reasons that I could not fathom, this offering brought to mind some of the legendary Mayacamus Cabernet Sauvignons (i.e., the 1968, 1970, 1973, and 1974).

95 (three puffs) Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine, Dec. 2003, p. 26
Deep, concentrated and conveying a fine sense of potency in its complex, richly oaked and optimally ripened black cherry and currant aromas, this big, broad-beamed opus is positively plush on the palate with a wealth of well-extracted fruit that is met step for step by lots of lovely sweet oak spice. While a touch of last-minute heat proves a slight distraction just now, the wine has the relentless fruit and stunning sense of depth to make it an all but guaranteed bet for aging, and it looks good to go for another eight to ten years.

93 California Grapevine, Vol. 30, No. 1, February-March 2004, p. 5
Medium-dark ruby color; attractive, intense, complex, concentrated, ripe blackberry and black cherry fruit aroma with overtones of vanilla and creamy oak; full body; big, rich, concentrated, textured, highly extracted, slightly jammy, very ripe, dark currant and blackberry fruit flavors with overtones of creamy oak; full tannin; lingering aftertaste. Shows outstanding depth of fruit with a very appealing mouth feel and finish. Needs at least several more years of bottle aging. Very highly recommended.

91(+?) Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, Jan/Feb 2004
Full medium ruby. Superripe nose is distinctively porty yet bright. Then lush and deep in the mouth, with explosive, superripe flavors of blackberry, black raspberry, licorice and bitter chocolate. Boasts terrific sweetness and depth but distinctly bound-up today, even a bit medicinal. Finishes with powerful but thoroughly ripe tannins. Not now as harmonious as it seemed from barrel, but this may well merit a higher score with bottle aging.